Purdue wins third Big Ten title in a row

Purdue won both the individual and team titles at Big Ten Conference Championship for the third consecutive year Sunday.

The Boilermakers, No. 8 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, rolled to a 27-shot victory at University Ridge Golf Course in Verona, Wis. They posted 5-over 293 in the round – the only sub-300 score Sunday among the 11-team field – and finished at 6-over 1,158.

Purdue’s four-round total smashed its own conference and school record for low-72 hole score. The previous mark of 1,167 was set by Purdue’s Big Ten Championship team in 2000.

No. 12 Michigan State was second at 33-over 1,185 and No. 19 Ohio State was third at 1,189.

Purdue’s Laura Gonzalez-Escallon, a freshman from Belgium, closed with four back-nine birdies en route to a 3-under 69 – a personal best – to win the individual medal by three shots. Gonzalez finished at 8-under 280, a conference and school-record score for four rounds.

Michigan senior Ashley Bauer, who set a Big Ten and Wolverines 18-hole scoring record with a second-round 65, shot 73 in the final round and finished second at 283. Michigan State’s Laura Kueny (72) was third at 286.

Purdue assistant coach Maria Hernandez, the 2009 NCAA individual champion, won the Big Ten title in 2008. She and LeBlanc tied for conference medalist honors in 2009.

Gonzalez-Escallon was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, head coach Devon Brouse earned his third-straight Big Ten Coach of the Year award and LeBlanc was honored as both the Big Ten Player of the Year and the Mary Fossum Award recipient for lowest-stroke average in the conference.

LeBlanc is the fifth-consecutive Boilermaker to earn Player of Year honors and fourth-consecutive Mary Fossum Award winner for Purdue.